The Lynchburg Fire Department has named a new deputy chief of administration to replace Deputy Chief Jonathan Wright, who retired on June 1.

Abbey Johnston will take over as deputy chief of administration after serving for the past seven years as deputy chief of operations for the Bedford County Department of Fire & Rescue, the LFD announced Thursday.

Prior to joining Bedford County Fire & Rescue in 2019, she was a captain with the LFD. She has 22 years of experience in fire and emergency medical services.

Johnston is the first woman to serve as a deputy fire chief in Lynchburg. A woman had previously served as an acting deputy chief for the LFD after a resignation, according to department spokesman Steve Smallshaw.

Since May, Johnston had served as interim chief of the Bedford County Department of Fire & Rescue as the county conducted a search for a new chief. Last month, the county appointed Jason Ferguson as its new fire chief.

Johnston is the LFD’s first major hire under new Fire Chief Brad Creasy, who took over last month. Creasy previously served as the fire chief of the town of Bedford from 2008 to 2022.

Wright served as acting fire chief after former Chief Gregory Wormser announced his retirement last fall. Battalion Chief Kenny Turner took over as acting chief on June 1 upon Wright’s retirement and served in that position until Creasy was sworn in on July 2.

Two new LFD positions recently approved by the city — a human resources leader and a department-wide staff training leader — will report to Johnston, although the training position will first report to Training Battalion Chief Adam Morton, according to Smallshaw.

The new positions were recommended in a report presented to city council in June by Raftelis, a consulting firm, which was commissioned to assess the LFD.

The department hopes to advertise for the two new positions within the next 30 days, Smallshaw said.

© 2026 The News & Advance, Lynchburg, Va.. Visit www.newsadvance.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.